Korean Drama Update for July 2020

Published by

Kay

July 31, 2020

Queen Love and War Korean Drama - Kim Min Kyu and Jin Se Yeon

I squeezed in another couple dramas for July, and luckily, they were both really nice watches. It was the historical mystery romance Queen: Love and War and the supernatural comedy Mystic Pop-Up Bar that I enjoyed this month:

Queen: Love and War

Queen: Love and War was a solid drama overall that I mostly enjoyed. I wouldn’t put it in the exceptional category, but it has a steady pace that slowly builds and gets better as it goes. I like when a drama is able to consistently raise the stakes.

A mystery is set up in the beginning with a murder attempt and then slowly peels back the layers of the plot. Then we get an interesting power struggle and lots of plotting. Scheming baddies abound in this one.

We also had a great main couple in Jin Se Yeon and Kim Min Kyu. They were interesting characters that faced a lot of challenges, but they also shared a lovely romance that we got to see play out. Overall, Queen: Love and War was a great watch. (Queen: Love and War Review)

Mystic Pop-Up Bar

Mystic Pop-Up Bar was a great supernatural drama that creates an entertaining world involving the afterlife, ghosts, and lots of other fun stuff. It was a bit on the episodic side with a woman running a mysterious pop-up bar and helping different people with their problems each episode, but the individual stories were great and full of emotion.

The overarching story was good too and builds nicely throughout the drama towards a satisfying conclusion. We also get a wonderful performance from one of my favorite actresses, Hwang Jung Eum, as well as our two leading men, Yook Sung Jae and Choi Won Young.

Mystic Pop-Up Bar is a great watch with it’s mix of humor, fun, heart, and emotion that was wrapped up in a quirky supernatural package. An enjoyable watch for sure. (Mystic Pop-Up Bar Review)

So how was July for you?

Happy drama watching to everyone!

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12 responses to “Korean Drama Update for July 2020”

Snow Flower

July 31, 2020

Dramas I finished in July 2020:

The Fiery Priest – Kim Nam Gil looking cool in a long black coat! Beating up bad guys in slow motion! Fun action/comedy with a deeper message about standing up for truth and justice. Great supporting cast.

I Hear Your Voice – Lee Jong Suk is absolutely dreamy as a young man who can read people’s minds. Part legal drama, part noona romance, and it works. All characters had meaningful story arcs.

Dream High – this drama was not on my detailed watch list, but I had to watch it to get my Kim Soo Hyun fix. It turned out to be a great coming of age drama set in the entertainment industry. I have a great respect for K-pop stars. If they receive the kind of training as shown in the drama, they must be hard working individuals with multiple talents. KSH is a standout as a naive country boy who overcomes obstacles to become a pop music star. He does his own singing and dancing, and does it very well. The rest of the cast are young idols who show considerable acting abilities.

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1. MyKDramaticLife
  
  July 31, 2020
  
  ***A very very Long Post***
  
  (My July 2020 K-Dramatic Review)
  “July Found Bias”
  
  July (the 7th month of the year) is the month of my biases. So I watched dramas and movies of Ji Chang Wook, Yeon Woo Jin, Eric Mun, Park Bo Young, Hwang Jung Eum and Jang Na Ra to commemorate this month. Enjoy reading! 😊
  
  1. Oh My Baby (7.5/10)
  A typical romcom with the ever-amazing Jang Na Ra as the female lead, and three handsome guys as male leads, Oh My Baby was a fun watch with solid plot, despite my personal thoughts on its middle to ending parts. It’s both funny and serious with realistic characters too.
  
  2. Mystic Pop-Up Bar (8.5/10)
  An inventive and innovative fantasy series that made me laughed and smiled the whole time of the show, with the ever-funny romcom queen, Hwang Jung Eum, and the cute Yook Sung Jae as leads. It was so much fun and heart-moving too, desite its over-the-top magics.
  
  3. Priest (7/10)
  Priest was an all-packed OCN drama that starred my bias Yeon Woo Jin. 😍 The series was not only horror and medical, it had a wide range of genres: fantasy, thriller, and romance. Though I was left confused and questionable at times during my watch, the show always gave me hopeful and faithful vibes.
  
  4. Moon Embracing the Sun (7.5/10)
  Kim Soo Hyun, Jung Il Woo, Han Ga In, Kim So Hyun, Kim Yoo Jung, Yeo Jin Goo and Im Si Wan in one drama. That’s a must-watch reason indeed. Despite the very slow opening in the child versions of the drama, I was able to enjoy it more in the adult version timeline. It was full of angst but very hopeful too. Tearjerking and very poignant, but is worthy of your tears.
  
  5. Eccentric Chef Moon (8.5/10)
  Cliché romcom starring my dear Eric Mun and Waikiki graduate, Go Won Hee. Eccentric Chef Moon brought the best out of its ordinaries. It served me the right dishes to my romcom dining. It was fun and so many lighthearted and very fun but heartwarming scenes. And that little girl, Seol A, is a must watch too!
  
  My Favorite this Month: Mystic Pop-Up Bar
  
  (My July 2020 K-Movies)
  
  1. Beauty Inside (8.5/10)
  
  2. On Your Wedding Day (10/10)
  
  3. Fabricated City (8/10)
  
  So that was my K-Dramatic July 2020.
  How about yours, chingu? 😊
  
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  1. Kay
    
    August 1, 2020
    
    You’re keeping busy as ever! 😉 And it looks like you had pretty good experiences with everything which is always such a nice thing! We both enjoyed Mystic Pop-Up this time around, and it really was a great drama.
    
    I hope to also check out Eccentric Chem Moon at some point. I want to see the movie Fabricated City too. Oh, I’m also happy that you were able to enjoy Priest for me so that I don’t have to watch it, hehe 😉
    
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    1. MyKDramaticLife
      
      August 3, 2020
      
      I’m nearing to my 2020 goal (quota) of to-watch dramas. 😀
      Yeah Mystic is indeed fantastic with its adorable trio leads.
      Priest was good but I had issues in it, personal preference encounters. But yeah it was still enjoyable, it’s eerie and disturbing, but hopeful.
      Hope you really get into Eccentric. I really thought it will be into your tastebuds.
      
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      1. Kay
        
        August 3, 2020
        
        With all of the dramas you’ve got in, you’ll probably mightily surpass your drama quota, hehe. I hope I like Eccentric too as it does sound like a fun watch 🙂
        
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        MyKDramaticLife
        
        August 4, 2020
        
        Hahaha that’s one generous comment. But yeah I’m on track to my 2020 kdrama quota.
        You really should definitely give Eccentric a try. I’m not recommending it because it’s Eric’s, but because I really am thinking it’s a kind of romcom that suit your drama tastes. 😊
        
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        Kay
        
        August 4, 2020
        
        Now are you really sure you’re not recommending it because of Eric? Eric’s radiance in the drama might have blinded you to all reason, lol 😂 😂 Just kidding! It does sound like a drama that would suit my tastes, and I will have to give it a go some time 🙂
        
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        MyKDramaticLife
        
        August 5, 2020
        
        That was a confusing question. 😀 But yeah, no, I am a big fan of Eric but I am big fan too of heartwarming feel good romcoms. With that recommeding Eccentric Chef Moon is on objective side.
        
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        Kay
        
        August 5, 2020
        
        Haha, yeah, I was just playing 🙂 I like heartwarming, feel good rom-coms too, so it does actually sound very appealing 🙂
        
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2. Kay
  
  July 31, 2020
  
  So glad to hear that The Fiery Priest was good all the way through. I’ll definitely give it a go at some point. And it’s great you got in the classic I Hear Your Voice and enjoyed it. I have such good memories of that drama 🙂
  
  And yay! Dream High worked out for you 🙂 I thought it was a lot of fun, and Kim Soo Hyun was wonderful in it. He cracked me up so much! It’s a perfect drama to get your Kim Soo Hyun fix 🙂 Since I like music themed dramas, I too really enjoyed the setting. This drama had a lot great actors early in their careers, and they all came together nicely 🙂
  
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Timescout

August 1, 2020

I actually managed to watch TWO whole kdramas in July! Wonders never cease, eh. 😉

One was Mystic Pop Up Bar. It wasn’t anything new or massively ground breaking but the individual, episodic stories were (mostly) heart warming and I really liked the characters. The main story arc was pretty nice too. Not a bad watch at all.

The other kdrama I watched was Hospital Playlist, which I really, really enjoyed. I’ve liked most of the dramas by this production team, so I was hoping more of the same, which I got. I was so glad there was no ‘husband hunting’ in this one though. 😀 The episodes were way too long but as Drama was only 12 epis, it wasn’t that bad. The main cast is kinda a ‘dream team’ one but the whole supporting crew is awesome as well. Hospital Playlist is as close to a slice-of-life drama as a kdrama can get and as I tend to like those… 🙂 There’ll be a S2 come next year, to conclude the stories. I’m looking forward to that one too.

I also started Cross Fire, a cdrama about e-sports players. There’s a twist as the two main characters are in different times (in 2008 and 2019) and they accidentally meet ‘in the game’. Not sure how that happens but… I don’t really care about the technicalities, ha. It’s been pretty good so far.

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1. Kay
  
  August 1, 2020
  
  What?! Two whole kdramas! You really were on roll this month 😉 And wouldn’t you know, one of them was Mystic Pop-Up Bar, and we both liked it! That does happen every so often, hehe. It really was a solid drama all around.
  
  I was hoping you would eventually get to check out Hospital Playlist. I haven’t seen it since I can tell it’s probably not for me, but I thought you might have a good chance of liking that one from what I’ve read. The Reply series was very solid which bodes well for that one, and yes, that cast is something else! So now you at least have another season 2 to look forward to 🙂
  
  And a cdrama to add in to the mix? Maybe you are really emerging from that awful drama slump and have better drama days ahead 😉
  
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